How to Walk: Engage Your Toes

 

Written by Guest Author, Rich Waldron

How to walk! Wait, what? I’ve been walking since I was a year old… Did I forget how to walk?

Look, we’ve been walking most of our lives without thinking about it. Yet, as a Physical Therapist specializing in hip and knee pain, I became aware that the root cause of our pain is biomechanical — how we move and how we walk. (Side note: Joint replacements of the hip and knee are projected to increase about 35% per year over the next 10 years!).

So, are we walking wrong? And if so, why?

Start with the book Born to Run. It’s a funny story about Caballo Blanco; but to me, it’s a science book — a biomechanical walker’s user manual. For some unspecified reason, with the running boom of the 1970s, running (and walking) shoe design created a cushy heel tapering down to a flat toe (like a high-heeled running or walking shoe). This encouraged and emphasized a heel strike as the main component of the walking or running stride, i.e. what my lead or front leg is doing. 

What was de-emphasized was the rest of the stride — and to me the more important part, i.e. what’s happening on the back end or what my trail leg is doing. I always imagined instructions sounded like, “Heel strike left, heel strike right, heel left, heel right.” This method of walking or running sends a massive force (7-9x body weight) driving up into the knee and hip joints — the cartilage. Every time you strike with your heel, it’s like hitting your hip and knee with a sledgehammer!

So, what’s a better thought or instruction? Think, “Big toe push right, big toe push left, big toe right, big toe left.” Now, what’s happening? By emphasizing the big toe push off, walkers and runners tend to lean forward more (nose over toes). Rather than a force driving into the hip and knee joints, the big glute muscles (our main engine for walking and running), and partly the thigh muscles (quads and hammies) and calf muscles, absorb the work… that’s what they are there for!

Next time you’re walking, repeat this mantra: “Push off with the right big toe… Now, the left… Now, the right!” Be ready, your muscles will be sore — but that’s what they’re there for. 


Rich Waldron, PT is, amongst many things, a private practice Physical Therapist living in Northern California, who specialized in biomechanical knee and hip problems.